OPEN MIKE EAGLE: UNAPOLOGETIC ART RAP"I THINK THERE'S A PLACE FOR ART RAP, OR LIT-RAP, OR SMART RAP, OR WHATEVER, AND I DONT THINK IT HAS TO BE SOME CORNY NERDCORE SHIT. I'M WILLING TO BET MY RAP CAREER ON IT. I THINK ITS POSSIBLE FOR IT TO BE A "THING," SOMETHING THAT CAN HAVE LEGS... MAYBE BE INDIE-ROCK'S RETARDED COUSIN." - OPEN MIKE EAGLE

Splitting time in his childhood between Chicago and Los Angeles, MC Open Mike Eagle finished up his education in Illinois and moved out west to Cali to start a career. Like 99.9% of musicians coming to LA to start a career, Mike had to take a 9-to-5. Instead of the typical food service jobs that await most aspiring artists in the City of Angeles, Mike used his degree and became an educator. His days were spent in a classroom taching emotionally disturbed young people, while his nights were spent honing his skills as an MC performing and writing rhymes with his fellow Project Blowed MCs.

"I was a freestyler as a teacher and freestyle teaching is entertaining but not very effective. I did a lot of day dreaming and thinking of raps in class. The kids did inspire some musics, though. My first verse on "Unapologetic" is about some black kids at Dorsey high that fawn over My Chemical Romance. I feel like these are the kids that would have been into blowed shit ten years ago. It's not their fault - it really doesnt even matter how they choose to manifest their rebellious inclinations - it just pisses me off that the avenue is no longer in front of them."

The Project Blowed has been the launchpad for numerous stars of the Southern California hip-hop scene, but recently a "third generation" of Blowed rappers has stepped forward and captured broader attention in a way that hasn't been seen since the days of Aceyalone and Abstract Rude's forays onto the national stage.Some of these younger MCs, including Nocando (who's excellent debut Jimmy The Lock has just been released on Alpha Pup), Dumbfounded, and Open Mike Eagle, have learned to use the web to broadcast their battles at events such as Grind Time and The Bar Exam, often racking up tens-of-thousands of hits on Youtube. What separates this new generation of Blowed MC from some of their older comrades is the ability to follow those battles up with great songs; it's not seen as enough to be a one-dimensional battle rapper, this next generation is as concerned with crafting sharp hooks and thoughtful verses as they are with hard-hitting punchlines.

A fellow Blowedian with larger aspirations and Chicago connections- Busdriver - has taken a large role in working with Mike since his arrival in LA, asking Eagle to open on his recent Jhelli Beam tour. Mike credits Bus with showing him how to "stick with his own aesthetic and turn it into a viable career."

Unapologetic Art Rap is the culmination of Mike's first years in Los Angeles. The album features 15 tracks of solid hip-hop, with production from up-and-coming LA beatmakers like Adamatic, Maestroe, and Alwayz Prolific, as well as the infectious "I Rock" produced by local heavyweight Exile (who most recently worked with XXL Freshman Blu). On the mic, Open Mike is joined by Blowdians like the aforementioned Busdriver and Nocando, as well as Alpha MC and on a raucous party cut by his crew the Swim Team. He also brings Chicago MC and anticon. affiliate Serengeti to the track "Easter Surgery."

"I made every kind of rap song that I think is good. I made a party song, a girl song, a sing-songy song, a denouncement-of-religion song, a self-deprecating song, a rap duet, a crew jam, something I like to call "nighttime rap" that Mos Def and Tribe are really good at, and a couple lyricism for lyricism's sake adventures. These are the things that I enjoy."

One strange special guest on the album is comedian and newly minted Saturday Night Live writer Hannibal Burress. Mike, Hannibal and Serengeti all met while attending Southern Illinois University. "WTF Is Art Rap?" shows Mike's self-depracating side, as he sits by and lets the comedian to take down a litany of indie hip-hop cliches.

"The fortunate thing about it being my first is that I dont have any thing to be bound to. I did exactly what the fuck I wanted to do."

Marrying the skill of a seasoned vet on the mic with actual songwriting skill is no small feat. While many MCs seek to compensate for one with the other, Open Mike Eagle finds a perfect balance between the two: whether he's playfully rhyming about falling asleep in the car at a stop light while on lunch break or exhorting the media for a lack of positive Black role models in popular culture, Open Mike draws you in with every phrase, and more importantly, makes you have a damn good time while he's doing it.